The Warming Light
by demon unicron
Summary: The Long Night has come as the Systems Commonwealth falls. Yet a light remains hidden in the few systems that have preserved civilization since the fall, waiting for the time to rekindle the light. This is that story as the Andromeda emerges, and also of one descendant of one of these survivors: Seamus Harper. How is he still the same and what has changed?


Prologue

On a distant planet in the Triangulum Galaxy, a small group of people were looking out to a small lake under the cloudy night sky. The stars were hidden behind these black monsters, a nice reflection of the new, chaotic era that was coming on the Known Worlds. All these worlds, once jewels in the vast civilization that brought peace and prosperity for centuries, where now lying in ruins with little governance or enslaved by the various Nietzschean prides. At the moment, only the Pyrians and their space remained intact and retained their status of the past centuries, mainly because neither force wanted to involve them.

A man in his late twenties looked up to the sky, thinking of all the battles that seemed pointless now. He was wearing a black High Guard uniform, with the symbol for Bervet Major in the Lancer Corps on the collar. As the light from the house flickered on his face, he appeared over ten years older than his actual age. He turned to his companions, "After all we've sacrifice…. gone. The Commonwealth… is no more."

A woman in her mid-sixties walked forward. She was wearing a black dress with medium-length sleeves. Two small half-moons covered the shoulders, while various lines went down from the waist to her heels. "The institution is gone, but what it represented is still alive here," she said while gesturing to the landscape. "So long as we keep it that way, the spirit of the Systems Commonwealth will endure."

A man next to her laughed, "I don't think that helping the kid." Indeed, the young officer was looking down to the ground, appearing utterly lost. "While your statement is very optimistic, we must face reality." He leaned on the wall of the balcony. "The rebels believe all traces of Commonwealth government are destroyed, and thanks to Witchhead, are beating each other to a pulp. The question is how do we proceed?"

A woman with cat-like features on her face and hands growled, "We attack them, inflict the same destruction they brought to us! They are already wiping themselves out; we just need to finish the job." All the others looked at her, seeing the absolute anger and hatred for the Nietzscheans that coursed through her veins.

The older woman looked at her with pity. You have become so consumed with thoughts of revenge. There are still innocents in the Nietzschean race, Naomi."

Naomi glared at her. "Why should that matter? They didn't care about the innocent lives they killed, about the innocents that are suffering under their boots. If they are willing to do all this," she gestured to the stars, "then to hell with any of their innocents."

The young man looked at her, horror at what she just said. "So we become them? We are High Guard, a duty to protect and leave alone the innocent! 'To hold the line against the night' is the oath we swore, remember?"

The woman rolled her eyes, "The night has already fallen, as you said yourself. Why should we stay bound by rules to an organization that no longer exists? Let's at least make the bastards feel whatever pain we can until our last breath."

"Enough," the older man bellowed to stop the two High Guard officers. "The moral debate is pointless, as pragmatism says it is better to let the Nietzschean continue to think all is gone."

The woman tapped her foot slightly as she thought over what the future would be, stopping after a minute. "The ideals of what the Commonwealth represented will live on these planets, so long as we don't advertise ourselves. They consider these planets too much trouble to acquire and holding little resources worth the expense. That is our hope, our saving light in this darkness."

"So we just sit here and pray to God for everything to be ok?" It appeared that Naomi was not willing to let things drop so easily. "They couldn't conquer the Than or Shimpia. Ask them for help, I'm sure they wouldn't mind returning the bloodshed."

The older man shook his head, "You focus too much on revenge and not on what will be. Believe me; I would love nothing more than to grind them down to where no pride will be a threat to anyone." While saying this, he subconsciously traced a few of the scars on his chest that were hidden beneath his clothing. "If we followed your plan, fueled by only revenge, we may unite the prides for good. Chaos is reigning, but with the prides divided as they are, civilization may eventually return."

The cat-woman growled before leaving the balcony and heading down a hallway. The other woman sighed, "So young and already tainted by war. Still, I see her point that sitting here and hoping that none find this system seems foolish." She looked to the younger man, who was now holding the Commonwealth pin between two figures. "We have only a small fleet and already ships are falling into disrepair. Even our few High Guard ships will fall without a port to work on them."

The older man rubbed his forehead, "How I wish you were wrong, but then I fear that as an omen." He walked over to the balcony edge, "We cannot completely isolate ourselves from the Known Worlds. We do not have enough resources for that. How I wish we could, that would be the best situation." He turned to face them, "No, we will engage in limited trade for now. Perhaps in the future the planets can open more, but not right now."

The woman sat down on the bench by the railing, laying her arms on her legs. "The planets will have to change much of the government, lest an outsider connect it to the Commonwealth. Democracy, citizens' rights, justice…they _must _remain our foundations even as the form of them changes. If they do not, then restoration for what has been lost is gone."

The two Guardsmen nodded, they only hopped their descendants would continue this idea. The younger man stopped spinning the symbol and looked at the two. "So we're the unofficial Commonwealth government in exile? Aren't we luck." He laughed a little at the end.

The other two smiled, with the older High Guard officer giving a small pat on the back as if to say 'that's a positive look on it'. Walking over to the woman, the two started to walk out. The other man continued to look into the night sky that seemed to have gotten a little more positive. "You coming, Mr. Harper," asked the older man.

The officer, now identified as a Mr. Harper, nodded and set the Commonwealth pin in his pocket.


End file.
